In a rut
by iStrawberryMilk
Summary: Bance. Nothing else to say. M/M fluff


It was the end of the first semester at Galaluna's Military Academy; A day that is always marked with steep competition to be the victor and be awarded the Medal of Excellence. Last year around this time was the day that Baron one day swore to end the life of the person who "ruined" his future. He tried to act upon this urge to do so; but ended up with a ruined perfect record and harsh punishment from his father. Of COURSE Baron wanted to face Lance again in the War Games; just to show the academy that he was _just_ as good as Lance or even _better._

But here he was standing, wearing a blue team uniform for the war games seriously irked. Standing next to him with an uncomfortable look on his face was Lance- also in a blue team uniform. His arms folded, Baron watched with a lack of interest the Commander giving the standard procedures for the War Games. He and everyone else there had been through this a million times; he wondered why it was still mandatory to listen to his ramble.

After finishing the long-drawn out speech, the Commander eyed everyone in the two teams, staring at Baron and Lance a little longer than needed with a look that said "I'm watchin' you two" ; then raised his arms in a way not unlike a referee at a football game would to call a touchdown, and said:

"Let the War Games…BEGIN!"

At that, the two teams took off running for their respective sides of the ship. At the head of the group, there was Lance. Lance was running much faster than the rest of the group, Baron included. Realizing this, Baron sprinted towards the head of the group so he would be ahead of the rest, but Lance caught up as soon as Baron decided to save any energy. As Lance passed him, Baron couldn't help but notice how Lance glared at him with his nearly black eyes. But Baron could see a small glint of blue in them; so the kid wasn't as creepy as he initially thought…

No; wait. He shouldn't be thinking for a second Lance was anything close to normal. He was a creepy kid; with black, soft looking hair and large eyes that made him seem much younger and feminine than he actually was. Maybe he'd have some respect for Lance had he looked a little less… like a girl. His body was thin, yet not as thin as Baron. Lance had a little bit more muscle on him than Baron did (As much as he would hate to admit).

Once they had gotten into the ship, Lance let the rest of the team go ahead of him, so he could stay at the back of the group. Baron didn't remain at the front either; he was towards the middle of the team, glancing back at Lance every so often as they moved quietly through the downed ship. After about five minutes of walking, Baron had a brilliant idea about how to win the war games _and _put Lance out of commission! Slowing his pace so he could drift to the back of the team, within a minute he was walking in equal pace next to Lance.

One of the main strategy points for a team to win the War Games was to keep silent; so that meant no talking whatsoever. Baron silently nudged Lance on the shoulder, earning a glare from the other boy. Those eyes again. Baron hated his eyes most of all. They were too innocent-looking, too girly; they made his stomach churn in strange ways. Lance was still shorter than Baron; which was not a surprise as Baron's family has always had tall boys. That was then Baron realized he was staring at Lance with a blank face, which made the other boy shift uncomfortably, waiting for the blonde to say something or do something. Baron quickly cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the rest of his… team?

The rest of blue team was gone- Nobody was there at all. Baron's eyes quickly darted around the room looking for some sight of them, but they weren't there.

"Damn it! We lost the team because of you!" Lance suddenly hissed with a sharp tone in his voice.

"Maybe if you weren't walking so far behind the rest of them; we wouldn't have strayed away from them!" Baron hissed back with tenfold venom.

"Why were you even walking with me?" Lance rolled his eyes and retorted, eyes blazing.

The taller boy quieted at this. Why _was_ he walking with Lance? Baron chewed on the inside of his lip, thinking. Oh yes! The plan!

"I was trying to get you alone so I could finally finish what I started!" Baron exclaimed with a violent vigor as he stepped towards Lance. Lance's eyes widened for a moment and then he took a fighting stance; his eyes returning to that glare he only used with Baron.

Baron just growled and clenched his fist in response. He took another step towards Lance, who began to rear up in defense. Lance's eyes were more intense now than Baron had ever seen them. His stomach began to shiver again; which angered him to the point he took a swing at Lance, hitting him directly in the mouth.

Lance grunted and was knocked back a little ways, but immediately retaliated by shoving his left elbow into Baron's gut. Gagging on the pure pain of having the air knocked out of him, Baron's arms wrapped around his stomach while gasping for air.

_Damn it, damn it! Damn it all! _Baron thought as he looked up at Lance raising a fist to punch him. He still wasn't better than Lance; he still wasn't up to his level. As that thought dawned in his head, Baron felt the impact of Lance's punch on his lower jaw. Baron gasped as the pure force of that punch pushes him back about two feet. When he lost his balance from backpedaling, he fell down onto his behind with a loud thud- Maybe _too loud _of a thud. Lance approached him again with his left fist clenched; but neither was prepared for what would happen next. As Lance approached Baron heard the decaying ship's floor creak loudly, threatening to give way underneath and plunge them into a lower part of the ship nearly inaccessible by anybody. Baron opened his mouth to warn Lance, but it was too late. Once Lance's weight was added to the already stressed decaying metal, it gave way completely and made them fall about 8 to 10ft. As they both hit the floor with a simultaneous thud, dust began to stir and made its way around the lower, darker part of the old ship. It was completely pitch dark in this basement like part of the ship; save for the light coming through from the hole they just fell through.

Aside from a bad headache from hitting the floor so hard, Baron was uninjured as far as he could tell. Hopefully that's all that was wrong. About two feet away lay Lance on his side, groaning. Because of the dark, he could only make out his shape, not anything distinct. He couldn't tell if Lance were injured or not. Lance rolled over onto his stomach with a grunt and tried to lift himself up using his hands. He got to his knees, and then stood on what appeared to be his left foot. But as he tried to stand on his right it twisted in what looked like a painful way and he fell to the floor again with a loud crashing noise and the sound that made Baron grit his teeth; the sound of bones breaking.

Lance grunted and lay on his side for a few more moments, unmoving.

"Are you…um, alright?" Baron could only whisper, he was still reeling in disgust from hearing his bones break so badly.

"I- I think I broke my right ankle…" Lance replied; his voice strained by the oblivious pain he was in. It was then when Baron realized they had landed on dirt, so somehow they ended up either below the ship or in a level that had been filled with sand. Baron looked up again to see Lance struggling to get turned around and into a crawling position.

Lance let out a pained sigh as he crawled his way over towards Baron. Once Lance's face became recognizable in the light Baron immediately wanted to look away, but was relieved when Lance sat down in such a way his ankles would be in the shadows. He really hated looking at broken bones. Not since Lance broke his nose way back when. Lance sat a foot away from Baron at most, sharing the light space. Again, Lance was close to him. Why was this bothering him so much? Baron coughed in a way to clear the uneasy atmosphere, but he still remained silent.

"I can't believe this happened!" Lance spat and shook his head. Baron looked over to see Lance looking in the direction of his ankle. He was muttering under his breath about how the teachers and the combat instructor will push him with that injury, not noticing Baron's gaze. Baron simply sat and blinked, his gaze not moving from the black-haired boy next to him.

"What?" Lance's voice shook Baron from his gaze to look at Lance's lips, then straight in the eye. It didn't seem as noticeable before, but Baron just realized that they were _close._ Close enough that when they were looking towards one another, they could feel each other's breath on their faces. Come to think of it, he'd never been so close to Lance without wanting to hurt him.

"Sorry for getting you into this pile of crap." Baron moved his head away from him, uncomfortable from the close proximity to Lance.

"What do we do now?" Lance asked. Baron could feel him breathing on his left ear, and it was driving him crazy for some reason.

They both sat in silence for about a minute, thinking. But then the idea hit Baron like a bullet. He shot his head right back towards Lance, unconsciously getting closer to him.

"The emergency—mmnh!" Baron's words were cut off by his mouth hitting something warm.

Lance sat there, eyes wide open, processing what had and was happening. Somehow Baron's mouth was right on the mark, and they were engaged in an unwilling lip lock.

Baron pulled away in a heartbeat and nearly flew back two feet.

"Shit shit shit shit." Baron cupped his hand over his mouth and stared back at Lance, who's mouth had moved from stoic to a frown. Lance's eyes looked down at the ground and he began to blush. That was his _first damn kiss!_ And who to get it but Baron?

"U-uhh…" Lance couldn't form any words, only broken words and stuttered apologies. Baron looked back at Lance again, his face hot. Lance noticed and looked back, going silent. Those eyes. Those damned eyes. Lance's dark orbs locked within his, he felt like he was bewitched by a spellcaster. Baron's eyes glazed over for a moment, and his breathing hitched again. His face began to get warmer than it already was; plus Lance was so close…

Before Lance knew what was happening, Baron leaned in even closer than he was for the accidental kiss, and with his mouth agape and unprotected, Baron's lips met with Lance's lips; Baron's tongue met with Lance's tongue.

_Oh my god…_ Was the only thing Lance could think as his mouth was invaded by Baron's tongue for a good 30 seconds, but he felt Baron gasp against his lips and tear away from him. Baron looked at Lance once more, then turned away and silently turned on the emergency beacon on his armor. They didn't speak for what felt like hours, but within one hour they were pulled up from the pit and Lance's ankle bandaged. Every so often they would glance at each other but not say a word.

After that day they rarely spoke or came into contact with each other, but sometimes when they'd catch eye contact with each other in the hall, their faces would simply flush and they'd look away.

/end


End file.
